WO2005113245A1 - Réservoir d'encre et enregistreur de jet d'encre - Google Patents

Réservoir d'encre et enregistreur de jet d'encre Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2005113245A1
WO2005113245A1 PCT/JP2005/009716 JP2005009716W WO2005113245A1 WO 2005113245 A1 WO2005113245 A1 WO 2005113245A1 JP 2005009716 W JP2005009716 W JP 2005009716W WO 2005113245 A1 WO2005113245 A1 WO 2005113245A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
ink
light
ink tank
housing
emitting element
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/JP2005/009716
Other languages
English (en)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
Koudai Noguchi
Kenji Kitabatake
Yoshinori Kojima
Original Assignee
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Canon Kabushiki Kaisha filed Critical Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Publication of WO2005113245A1 publication Critical patent/WO2005113245A1/fr

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17503—Ink cartridges
    • B41J2/17553—Outer structure

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an ink tank used as a storage container for ink in a recording apparatus that uses a liquid ink for recording, and an ink jet that discharges ink supplied from the ink tank from a head to perform recording.
  • the recording apparatus in particular, whether or not the ink tank ′ is attached to the recording apparatus, detection of the remaining amount of ink contained in the ink tank, and detection of the type of ink contained in the ink tank are performed.
  • the present invention relates to an ink tank that provides an improved structure that enables the ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the ink tank and a mechanism capable of detecting the above-mentioned items. '
  • a ink jet recording apparatus ejects ink droplets from a fine discharge port provided in an ink jet recording head and adheres the ink droplets to a recording medium such as paper or a resin sheet.
  • a recording medium such as paper or a resin sheet.
  • an apparatus using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element or an electrothermal transducer having a heating resistor as an energy generating element for generating energy for discharging ink from the ejection port Therefore, one using a liquid which heats a liquid and ejects an ink droplet is used.
  • an ink supply mechanism for supplying a liquid ink to the ink jet recording head is provided, and the ink is internally supplied to the ink supply mechanism.
  • An ink tank containing the ink is detachably connected. Therefore, the ink jet recording apparatus has a mounting portion (e.g., a holder that holds a carriage ink that reciprocates by mounting an ink jet recording head, etc., etc., etc.) in which the ink tank is detachably mounted. There is. When the ink in the ink tank runs out, recording can be continued by replacing it with a new ink tank. '
  • ink jet recording apparatuses capable of recording in full color have become mainstream, and the color of ink used for recording is progressing.
  • the ink jet recording apparatus is equipped with a plurality of ink tanks containing inks of different colors. Also, when the ink in the ink becomes low, the conventional ink jet recording is performed to urge the user to replace the ink tank or interrupt the recording operation of the ink jet recording apparatus if necessary.
  • the device has a system that detects the amount of ink remaining in the ink tank.
  • a reflection plate as an optical reflection member is provided in the ink chamber to detect the presence or absence of the ink.
  • JP-A-9-1 748 7 7 Correspondence: USP 6234603
  • JP-A 1 0 3 2 3 9 9 3 Correspondence: USP 6361136
  • Multiple active reflectors to detect the presence of the ink tank and the level of ink remaining in the ink tank The system is known.
  • JP-A-9-298989 (Correspondence: USP 6024428) discloses an ink jet recording apparatus capable of detecting the presence or absence of an ink tank and the presence or absence of ink by one photosensor.
  • FIG. 11 shows a conventional ink tank provided with an optical detection means.
  • the same figure (a) is an external perspective view, (b) is a bottom view, and (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA '.
  • FIG. 12 is a view for explaining how the bottom of the ink tank shown in FIG. 11 reflects.
  • the ink tank 107 is formed of a translucent light transmitting material, and is detachably mounted on a carriage (not shown) of the ink jet recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 11 (a), a triangular notch 250 is formed in the lower portion of the side wall of the ink tank 107. Further, as shown in FIGS. 11 (b) and 11 (c), a prism 180 and a concave curved surface reflecting portion 190 are provided on the bottom of the ink tank 107. The prism 180 is used to detect the amount of remaining ink, and the concave curved surface reflection portion 190 is used to detect the presence or absence of the ink tank.
  • an opening is formed in a region facing the prism 180 and the concave curved reflection portion 190 in a state where the ink tank 107 is mounted.
  • the prism 180 and the concave curved surface reflecting portion 190 are provided through the opening of the carriage.
  • an optical unit 140 having a light emitting element 150 and a light receiving element 160 is disposed.
  • the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged side by side in a direction (F direction in FIG. 11 (b)) perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage.
  • the concave curved surface reflection portion 190 has curvatures with respect to the moving direction of the carriage and two directions in the F direction in FIG.
  • the light is emitted from the light emitting element 150 of the optical unit 140 while moving the carriage.
  • the ink tank 107 is not attached to the carriage, the light emitted from the light emitting element 150 does not return to the light receiving element 160 and is not detected by the light receiving element 160.
  • the ink tank 107 is attached to the carriage, the light emitted from the light emitting element 150 first enters the prism 180.
  • the light incident on the prism 180 passes through the prism 180 if ink is present in the ink tank 107, and is reflected on the surface constituting the outer shape of the prism 180 if there is no ink. Then, it returns to the light receiving element 160.
  • the presence or absence of the ink in the ink tank 107 can be detected from the intensity of the light detected by the light receiving element 160.
  • the light emitted from the light emitting element 150 as the carriage moves is then irradiated to the concave curved reflecting portion 190. Due to the arrangement of the shape curved optical unit 140 of the concave curved surface reflecting portion 190 described above, the light emitted from the light emitting element 150 is reflected by the concave curved surface reflecting portion 190 to be received as a light receiving element 16 Return to 0, detected by light receiving element 1 6 0 Be
  • the ink tank 107 when looking at the change in light intensity detected by the light receiving element 160, if the peak value does not exist, the ink tank 107 is not attached, and if the peak value is one, it is in It is possible to judge that the ink tank 107 is attached but there is no ink, and if there are two peak values, the ink tank 107 is attached and the ink is also present.
  • the presence or absence of the ink tank and the presence or absence of the contained ink can be detected, but the color of the ink contained in the ink tank can not be identified. Therefore, in the ink jet recording apparatus which mounts a plurality of ink tanks having different colors of ink, even if the mounting position is incorrect, this is not detected, and if there is an erroneous mounting of the ink tank, the discharge results as a result.
  • the colors of the inks used are quite different. Mis-loading of the ink tank using the optical detection means can be dealt with, for example, by changing the position of the reflecting member for each color of ink.
  • ink jet recording apparatuses are becoming multi-colored, and making the ink tank a shape corresponding to each color leads to an increase in production cost and a limited space for the ink tank. It is very difficult to position each reflective member differently depending on the color of the ink.
  • the optical element when performing detection of the presence or absence of the ink tank and detection of the presence or absence of the ink with the corresponding optical elements (prism or reflective portion), it is possible to detect with one set of fluorescent element and light receiving element, that is, one optical system. It is conceivable to arrange the two optical elements in parallel with the moving direction of the carriage. At this time, in order to be able to perform reliable detection with each optical element, it is necessary to obtain a sufficient amount of reflected light, so the positional relationship between the optical element and the optical unit is important. Become. Therefore, considering the dimensional accuracy and mounting accuracy of each part and unit, the optical element needs to have a certain size, which leads to an increase in the size of the ink tank.
  • the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its object is to use a pair of optical elements and a photo sensor to realize more reliable ink presence / absence detection and ink tank presence / absence detection with a simple configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink tank and an ink jet recording apparatus which is possible and effective for the erroneous mounting due to the multi-coloring of the ink.
  • a holding unit for detachably holding an ink tank storing ink supplied to a recording head for recording on a self-recording medium using the ink, and the holding unit.
  • a light emitting element for emitting light toward the ink tank held in the part from the lower side in the direction of gravity toward the upper side, and a light receiving element having a light receiving sensitivity in a wavelength range of light emitted from the light emitting element.
  • the ink tank attached to the device comprises:
  • An air communication portion communicating with the ink tank and the outside;
  • a light reflecting member which is disposed in the ink chamber as the ink storage space configured by the housing and which reflects the light emitted by the light emitting element to the light receiving element;
  • the space between the light transmitting portion of the housing and the light reflecting member is a space where the ink exists.
  • the light reflecting member is configured to return light from the light emitting element to the light receiving element by multiple reflections, even if the light reflecting member is constituted by a flat plate that returns the light from the light emitting element to the light receiving element by one reflection. It may be a polyhedron that has been In particular, the light reflecting member configured to reflect light multiple times has two reflecting surfaces that sequentially reflect the light incident on the ink chamber, and the two reflecting surfaces and the inner wall surface of the housing It is preferable that a structure integrally provided in the housing is formed so as to form the prism-shaped space therebetween.
  • angles of the plurality of reflecting surfaces are set so as to emit the light, which is incident on the inside of the ink chamber perpendicularly to the wall surface constituting the housing, to the outside of the ink chamber perpendicularly to the wall surface.
  • the configuration is suitable from the viewpoint of small size detection kit.
  • the ink tank when light is emitted from the outside of the housing forming the ink chamber toward the light reflecting member provided in the ink chamber, the light is reflected by each of the reflecting surfaces of the light reflecting member. Re-emit out of the case again. Therefore, the presence or absence of the ink tank is detected by detecting the presence or absence of the emitted light. Further, the reflection surface of the light reflection member is disposed between the ink container and the inner wall surface of the housing of the ink tank via a space communicating with the ink chamber, and the light emitted to the light reflection member from the outside of the housing is When the ink exists in the ink chamber, it travels through the ink, and when the ink does not exist, it travels through the air.
  • the intensity of light emitted to the outside of the casing differs depending on whether the ink is present in the ink chamber or not, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the ink in the ink chamber based on the difference. Furthermore, the intensity of the light reflected by the reflection surface of the light reflection member and emitted out of the housing differs depending on the color of the ink, It is also possible to determine the color of the ink contained in the ink chamber.
  • the light incident on the ink chamber through the light transmitting member is reflected by at least one reflection surface and emitted out of the ink chamber, as described above.
  • An inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by discharging ink from a recording head onto a recording medium has the following:
  • An ink tank for storing ink supplied to a recording head, the ink tank being disposed in an ink chamber constituting an ink storage space of the ink tank, and light emitted by the light emitting element is transmitted to the light receiving element.
  • a light reflecting member that reflects light; and a housing that is light transmitting at a bottom portion of the ink tank in use; and a light transmitting portion of the housing and the light reflecting member And a holding unit for detachably holding an ink tank configured as a space in which the ink exists.
  • a light emitting element for emitting light from the lower side in the direction of gravity toward the upper side toward the ink tank held by the holding portion;
  • a light receiving element having light receiving sensitivity in a wavelength range of light emitted from the light emitting element
  • the light emitting element has a variable wavelength of emitted light.
  • the ink jet recording apparatus comprises a light emitting element for emitting light to the ink tank mounted in the holder, and a light receiving element having light receiving sensitivity in the wavelength region of the light emitted from the light emitting element. Since the above-described ink tank is used, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of the ink tank and the presence or absence of the ink in the ink tank.
  • FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a partial schematic configuration of an inkjet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an example of the ink cartridge mounted on the carriage shown in FIG.
  • FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the ink tank shown in FIG.
  • FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the light emitting member shown in FIG.
  • FIG. 5 is a view for explaining how detection is performed in various cases by the optical unit and the light reflecting member in the embodiment of the present invention.
  • 6 (a) and 6 (b) are perspective views showing other examples of the light reflecting member.
  • FIG. 7 is a view showing another configuration example of the light reflecting member, and is a view showing an example of a light reflecting member having one reflecting surface.
  • FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the optical path length of light emitted from the optical unit in the example shown in FIG.
  • FIG. 9 (a) is a view for explaining the difference in optical path when the distance between the optical unit and the light reflecting member in the example shown in FIG. 5 changes.
  • (B) is a figure explaining the difference of the optical path when the distance of the optical unit and light reflection member in the example shown in FIG. 7 changes.
  • FIG. 10 (a) is a perspective view 'showing another example of a multi-faced light reflecting member, and (b) is a view showing the optical path of the reflecting member.
  • FIGS. 11 (a), (b) and (c) are diagrams showing the configuration of the conventional optical detection means of the ink tank.
  • Figure 12 illustrates the reflection of the optical detection means of the conventional ink tank shown in Figure 11 FIG.
  • FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a part of the ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. .
  • the recording head 1 is an ink jet recording head that discharges ink and performs recording on a recording medium (not shown), and an ink tank containing ink to be supplied to the recording head 1 0 And separably linked.
  • An ink cartridge is constituted by the recording head 1 and the ink tank 20.
  • the recording head 1 and the ink tank 20 are separable ink cartridges, but they may be integrated inseparably. Even in the case of misalignment, the ink cartridge is detachably held by the carriage 2 which is the holding portion.
  • the recording head 1 is provided with means (e.g., an electrothermal transducer or a laser beam) that generates thermal energy as energy used to eject the ink, and the thermal energy It uses a system that causes ink state change, thereby achieving high-density recording and high-definition recording.
  • the ink ejection method is not limited to this, and one using an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element is also applicable to the present invention.
  • the recording head 1 may be integrated with the carriage 2 and only the ink tank 20 may be detached from the carriage 2.
  • the recording head 1 is detachably mounted on the carriage 2 in a posture for discharging ink downward in the figure.
  • the carriage 2 is slidably provided on a guide shaft 3 supported by the frame of the inkjet recording apparatus.
  • carriage 2 has a carriage One part of the timing belt (not shown) driven by the rotation (not shown) is fixed, and the carriage 2 reciprocates along the guide shaft 3 by rotating the carriage motor forward and reverse. .
  • a recording medium on which recording is performed by the recording head 1 is loaded on an automatic sheet feeder (not shown).
  • the recording media stacked in the automatic sheet feeding device are fed out one by one.
  • the recording medium delivered from the automatic paper feeder is placed on a platen (not shown) disposed in a region facing the recording head 1 by a conveyance mechanism including a conveyance roller, a discharge roller, etc. (all not shown).
  • a feed motor (not shown).
  • Recording is performed on a recording medium by ejecting ink droplets from the recording head 1 while reciprocating the carriage 2. At this time, recording is performed on the entire recording medium by intermittently feeding the recording medium at a predetermined pitch each time the carriage 2 moves in one direction or every one reciprocation movement.
  • a head recovery mechanism (not shown) is provided at a position facing the recording head 1 when the carriage 2 is located at the home position which is one end of the reciprocating movement range of the carriage 2.
  • the head recovery mechanism is a mechanism for keeping the ejection state of the recording head 1 in a good condition.
  • a cap (not shown) for capping the recording head 1, a wiper for wiping the ink ejection surface of the recording head 1 (not shown) And a suction pump (not shown) for forcibly sucking the ink from the ink discharge nozzle of the recording head 1.
  • An optical unit 14 is installed adjacent to the head recovery mechanism.
  • Optical unit 1 4 is an ink tank 2 0 mounted on carriage 2 2
  • An optical sensor used to detect the amount of remaining ink within 0 and to determine the color of the ink, the light emitting element 15 emitting light, and the wavelength range of the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 And a light receiving element 16 having light receiving sensitivity.
  • the light emitting element 15 is mounted on the carriage 2.
  • the light reflecting member 2 7 of the ink tank 20 described later It is fixed in the direction to irradiate light.
  • an LED can be used as the light emitting element 15.
  • a phototransistor can be used as the light receiving element 16.
  • the light emitting element 15 and the light receiving element 16 are installed as one set, but they may be installed separately.
  • FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of an example of the ink cartridge mounted on the carriage shown in FIG. Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the ink tank.
  • the ink tank 20 is detachably mounted on a tank holder 7 in which the recording head 1 is provided, and the ink cartridge is constituted by the tank holder 7 and the ink tank 20. .
  • the ink tank 20 can be removed alone from the carriage 2 (see FIG. 1) force, or can be removed as an ink cartridge.
  • the ink tank 20 mounted on the tank holder 7 is an ink tank 20 C for containing cyan ink, an ink tank 20 Y for containing yellow ink, and an ink tank 2 for storing magenta ink.
  • the three types of ink tanks 20 C, 20 Y, and 2 ⁇ are independent of one another.
  • the ink tank 2 0 C, 2 0 Y, 2 0 0 is attached to or removed from the tank holder 7 by the lever provided on the outer wall of the ink tank 2 0 C, 2 0 Y, 2 0 0 (22 e) The operation of can be performed.
  • Ink tank 2 0 C, 2 0 Y, 2 0 ⁇ ⁇ presence detection Ink tank 2 0 C, 2 0 Y, 2
  • each ink tank 2 OC, 20 Y, 2 OM passes sequentially above the optical unit 1 4 (see FIG. 1).
  • Move the carriage 2 see Figure 1).
  • the optical unit 14 is moved with the carriage 2 stopped, as long as the carriage 2 and the optical unit 14 move relative to each other in the arrangement direction of the ink tanks 2 OC, 2 0 Y, 2 OM. You may do this, or you may move both. ⁇
  • each ink tank 2 0 C, 2 0 Y, and 2 0 will not be distinguished in particular, and will be simply expressed as 'ink tank 2 0'.
  • the number of ink tanks 20 mounted is three is taken as an example here, the number of ink tanks mounted is not limited to this, and may be one or two. It is possible to mount as many ink tanks as necessary to achieve the required record, even four or more.
  • the ink means a liquid that is ejected from the ink jet recording head and attached to the recording medium during recording, and is used not only for colored ink but also for preventing ink bleeding, for example.
  • it also includes a treatment liquid that is attached to the recording medium before or after the attachment of ink to the recording medium. Therefore, in the case of the color of ink, the color also includes colorlessness.
  • the ink tank 20 has a cup portion 22 and a lid portion 21.
  • a space formed in a housing 23 composed of these is used as an ink chamber to store the ink.
  • the inside of the housing 23 is divided into two spaces by a partition wall 22a having a communicating part 22c at the lower part and formed in the cup part 22.
  • One of the spaces is an ink storage chamber 25 which is sealed except for the communication part 22c to directly store the ink.
  • the other space is a negative pressure generator that absorbs and holds ink It is a negative pressure generating member storage chamber 24 for storing the material 26.
  • the ink tank 20 is attached to the tank holder 7 (see FIG. 2) to supply the ink to the recording head 1 (see FIG. 2) on the wall surface forming the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 24.
  • an ink supply port 22b connected to the recording head 1 and an air communication port 21a for introducing air into the ink tank 20 from the outside with consumption of the ink are formed.
  • the air communication port 21 a is located at the upper side, and the ink supply port 2 2
  • the atmosphere communication port 21 a is formed in the lid portion 21 so that b is positioned downward, and the ink supply port 22 b is formed in the bottom wall of the forceps 22. .
  • the air is promptly introduced from the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 24 to the ink storage chamber 25, and the ink in the negative pressure generating member
  • a gas introducing groove 22 d extending upward from the communicating portion 2 2 c is formed.
  • the gas introduction groove 22 d is not provided, it is possible to introduce air into the atmosphere, and the more stable ink supply can be performed.
  • a space (a puffer portion) where the negative pressure generation member 26 does not exist is formed around the atmosphere communication port 21 a.
  • an ink lead-out member for easily guiding the ink absorbed by the negative pressure generating member 26 to the ink supply port 22 b
  • a pressure contact body. 28 is provided.
  • the ink discharge of the negative pressure generating member 26 is consumed by the discharge of one ink, and the gas-liquid interface 26a in the negative pressure generating member housing 24 reaches the upper end of the gas introducing groove 22d. Then, air is introduced into the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 24 from the air communication port 21 a with the subsequent consumption of the ink. The introduced air enters the ink storage chamber 25 through the communication portion 22c. Instead of this, the ink in the ink storage chamber 25 enters the negative pressure generation member storage chamber 24 through the communication portion 22 c and is filled in the negative pressure generation member 26. This operation is called gas-liquid exchange operation.
  • the ink in the negative pressure generation member storage chamber 24 is consumed by the recording head 1, the ink corresponding to the consumption amount is filled into the negative pressure generation member 26 from the ink storage chamber 25.
  • the gas-liquid interface 26 a in the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 24 is maintained at a substantially constant height. That is, the negative pressure generating member 26 holds a substantially constant amount of ink, whereby the negative pressure to the recording head 1 is maintained substantially constant, and the ink supply to the recording head 1 is stabilized. .
  • a light reflecting member 27 is installed at the bottom of the ink storage chamber 25.
  • the light reflecting member 2 7 has two reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b which are not parallel to each other, and these two reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b and the ink tank 2 0 (cup portion 2 2 ).
  • the bottom wall surface 2 2 f) is a structure configured to form a triangular prism-shaped space whose both ends are open as shown in FIG.
  • the light reflecting member 27 may be formed integrally with the cup portion 22 or may be formed as a separate member from the cup portion 22.
  • the reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b reflect the light incident from the outside of the ink tank 20 through the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20 into the ink storage chamber 25, and the ink tank 2 again.
  • the housing 23 of the ink tank 20 is formed of a member that transmits light at least a region that allows light to enter and exit from the light reflecting member 2.7.
  • the light referred to here is light emitted from the optical unit 14 (see FIG. 1) of the ink jet recording apparatus to which the ink tank 20 is attached.
  • the light transmitting member may, for example, be polypropylene.
  • the light reflecting member from the optical unit 14 through the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20 In order to be able to emit light to 2 7, the light reflecting member 2 7 exists between the light reflecting member 2 7 and the optical unit 1 4 when it is positioned directly above the optical unit 1 4
  • the forest area for example, carriage 2 (see Fig. 1) and tank holder 7 (see Fig. 2)) has an opening for light to pass through.
  • the reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b are disposed so as to be inclined at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20 so as to face each other.
  • light incident perpendicularly to the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20 is sequentially reflected by the two reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b, and then the bottom wall surface 2 of the ink tank 20 is obtained.
  • the light reflecting member 27 reflects the light incident from the direction perpendicular to the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20 by the reflection surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b and enters the light.
  • the optical unit 14 is installed so that the optical axis of the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 is perpendicular to the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20. The reason will be described later.
  • the reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b may be made of the light reflecting member 2 7 (case material when integrally formed with the case, suitable material when separately formed with the case). It is preferable that a reflective film having a higher reflectance be attached to or formed on the area to be the reflective surface 2 7 a or 2. 7 b.
  • the reflective film may be a reflective film attached by adhesion or mechanical bonding, a reflective tape, or a metal film formed by evaporation.
  • the light reflecting member 2 7 is made of a metal 'material such as aluminum or chromium, and the reflecting surfaces 2 7 a, 2 By forming 7 b by mirror finish, the light reflection efficiency is improved.
  • the light reflecting member 27 is a member that comes in contact with the ink in the ink storage chamber 25, Changes in the physical properties or appearance may greatly affect detection performance such as the ink residual amount described later. Therefore, particularly the reflective surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b of the light reflecting member 27 have physical properties even when in contact with the ink. It is preferable to use a member having an ink resistance whose appearance does not easily change.
  • the light reflecting member 27 is formed of the same material as the housing, the light is reflected but the decrease in the reflected light amount is expected to be remarkable, so the emitted light amount on the detection mechanism side can be increased or Measures such as increasing the sensitivity will be necessary.
  • Both ends of the space formed between the bottom wall surface 2 2 f of the ink tank 20 and the reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b by the light reflecting member 27 are open. It is in communication. Therefore, the ink freely flows between this space and the ink storage chamber 25. In this space, the ink exists at the same height as the ink liquid level in the ink storage chamber 25.
  • FIG. Refer to the description.
  • the ink tank 20 is installed and there is ink in it, more precisely, if at least the ink is present around the light reflecting member 27, as shown in FIG. As shown in (b), the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 passes through the housing 23 of the ink tank 20 and enters the light reflecting member 27. In the light reflecting member 27, the incident light is sequentially reflected by the two reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b, travels in the direction opposite to the incident direction, and transmits again through the housing 2 3, The light enters the light receiving element 16. Therefore, the optical unit 14 can obtain an output according to the intensity of the light incident on the light receiving element 16.
  • the ink is present in the ink tank 20
  • the ink is also present in the space between the two reflective surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b and the housing 2 3>
  • the light emitted from the element 15 travels in the ink in the ink tank 20.
  • the ink tank 20 is installed but there is no ink in it, more precisely, if the ink does not exist around the light reflection member 27 (Fig. 5 (c)) As shown in the figure, the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 travels the same optical path as in the case where the ink is present, and enters the light receiving element 16. However, in this case, since the ink does not exist in the space between the two reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b and the housing 2 3 3, the light emitted from the light emitting element 1 5 is an ink tank 2 0 It travels in the air inside.
  • the ink tank 20 when the ink tank 20 is mounted, light emitted from the light emitting element 15 is reflected by the light reflecting member 27 regardless of the presence or absence of the ink in the ink tank 20. Then, the light receiving element 16 is detected.
  • A be the intensity of light detected by the light receiving element 16 when there is no ink
  • B be the intensity of light detected by the light receiving element 16 when there is ink. Comparing the light intensity detected by the light receiving element 16 in each case,
  • the degree of light attenuation is higher when going through the ink than when going through the air.
  • the intensity of the light detected by the light receiving element 16 is three in the cases of (a) to (c) above. The smallest among them, as a result, between these light intensities
  • an output signal corresponding to the intensity of incident light is obtained. That is, in each case of FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c), different output signals are obtained from the optical unit 14. If the relationship between each of the states shown in FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c) and the output signal from the optical unit 14 is made to correspond in advance, one light reflecting member 27 provided in the ink tank 20, The presence or absence of ink 20 and the presence or absence of ink can be detected by one optical unit 14 provided on the main body side of the ink jet recording apparatus. By enhancing the detection accuracy, it is possible to detect the amount of attenuation of light and linearly detect the amount of ink below the light reflecting member 27. '
  • the wavelength of the light that is attenuated differs depending on the type (color) of the ink. Therefore, when the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 passes through the ink, the intensity of the light incident on the light receiving element 16 becomes different depending on the color of the transmitted ink. Therefore, it is also possible to determine the color of the ink from the output signal of the optical unit 14 it can.
  • the wavelength included in the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 is set so that the difference between the output signals obtained according to the color of the ink to be detected becomes as large as possible. It is preferable to select suitably. ⁇
  • the light reflecting member 27 which is a structure for determining the color of the ink is common to the ink tank 20 of each color, it is necessary to prepare a housing 23 of the ink tank 20 for each color of ink. However, it can be used in common for each color, and contributes greatly to the reduction of manufacturing cost and small size of ink tank 20. -In a conventional prism-based detection system, the length of the optical path through the solid is long, and the light tends to be attenuated accordingly.
  • the light reflecting member 27 forms a triangular prism-like space communicating with the ink storage chamber 25 in the rectangular parallelepiped structure. Therefore, the light reflecting member 27 has a thick portion and a thin portion.
  • the light reflecting member 27 is formed of resin, among them, particularly polypropylene having a high thermal contraction rate, in the thick part, sink marks occur on the reflecting surfaces 27a and 27b, and the reflection efficiency of the incident light May decrease. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the thickness of the light reflecting members 3, 7 and 38 is such that the reflecting surfaces 3 7 a and 3 8 a having desired flatness can be obtained. It is preferable to make it substantially uniform.
  • the light reflecting member 27 is disposed at the ink storage chamber 25 by way of example. But I don't care. In this case, since the negative pressure generating member 26 covers the light reflecting member 27 and is inserted into the negative pressure generating member storage chamber 24, the negative pressure generating member 2 is disposed in the space inside the light reflecting member 27.
  • the light reflecting member 27 can be applied to any of the ink tank having only the ink storage chamber as the ink chamber and the ink tank having only the negative pressure generating member storage chamber.
  • the space between the gas-liquid interface in the negative pressure deriving member reaches the space due to the consumption of the ink. Since the ink in the above is absorbed by the negative pressure generating member, when adopting this configuration, it is necessary to devise the arrangement location and the volume of the space.
  • the light reflecting member 27 repeatedly reflects light in the space of the prism shape twice, and the light incident from the outside of the ink tank 20 is emitted again to the outside of the ink tank 20.
  • a simple plate-like light reflecting member 47 as shown in FIG. 7 may be considered.
  • the light reflecting member 47 shown in FIG. 7 faces the wall surface of the housing 4 3 of the ink tank 4 0 in the ink chamber of the ink tank 40 so as to be parallel to the wall surface of the housing 4 3. It is a flat plate-like member disposed, and the opposite surface to the wall surface is the reflective surface 4 7 a.
  • Light reflecting member 4 The wall of the consideration body 4 3 to which 7 faces may be the bottom wall surface or the side wall surface. In the space between the reflecting surface 4 7 a of the light reflecting member 4 7 and the housing 43, the ink freely flows between the ink chamber in which the light reflecting member 4 7 is disposed and the ink chamber.
  • the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 of the optical unit 14 passes through the housing 43 of the ink tank 40, travels into the ink chamber, and is reflected by the reflecting surface 4 7 a of the light reflecting member 4 7.
  • the reflected light passes through the housing 43 again and enters the light receiving element 16.
  • the color of the ink in the ink tank 40 and the color of the ink can be determined from the light intensity detected by the light receiving element 16 as described above. Further, the presence or absence of the ink tank 40 can also be detected depending on whether or not the reflected light from the reflection surface 4 7 a is detected.
  • the optical reflecting member provided inside the ink tank is used only to detect the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank, and the presence or absence of the ink tank is determined by the electrical connection between the ink tank and the ink jet recording apparatus. It detected using connection.
  • the ink jet recording apparatus has the presence or absence of the ink remaining in the ink tank 40 as well as the presence or absence of the ink tank 40 from the presence or absence of light detected by the light receiving element 16 and the intensity. As a result, the configuration of the ink tank 40 and the ink jet recording apparatus can be simplified.
  • the optical unit 14 when light is made incident from the optical unit 14 to the plate-like light reflecting member 47, the optical unit 14 is required to be compact, and furthermore, to be compact the ink jet recording apparatus. It is preferable that the incident angle of the light from 14 onto the reflecting surface 4 7 a be small. If the incident angle is small, the light reflecting member 47 is made of a transparent material, and if the light reflecting member 47 itself constitutes the reflecting surface 47a, light is not reflected but transmitted. Therefore, in such a case, as described above, the light reflection member 47 is made of metal, or a reflection film is provided on the light reflection surface 4 7 a. It is preferable to carry out processing such as kicking.
  • FIG. 7 shows an example in which the light reflecting member '47 is disposed in parallel with the wall surface of the housing 43, it is possible to reflect the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 back to the light receiving element 16 It is not necessarily parallel if possible.
  • the direction perpendicular to the wall surface of the housing 43 from the light emitting element 15 and the light receiving element 16 to the reflection position of the light from the light emitting element 15 on the reflection surface 4 7 a The distance between the light emitting element 15 and the light receiving element 16 in the direction parallel to the wall surface of the housing 43 is L1. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, for the prism type light reflecting member 27 shown in FIG. 5, the distances L 1 and L 2 are defined as in FIG. .
  • an optical path length La until light emitted from the light emitting element 15 is incident on the light receiving element 16 is determined.
  • the two reflecting surfaces 2 7 a and 2 7 b are arranged as described above, and the traveling direction of the light from the light emitting element 15 to the reflecting surface 2 7 a and the traveling direction of the light reflected by the reflecting surface 27 b are Since the traveling direction of the light which is perpendicular to the wall surface of the housing 23 and reflected by the reflecting surface 2 7 a is parallel to the wall surface of the housing 23,
  • the prism type structure having a longer optical path length is more reliable because the intensity difference between the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 and the light incident to the light receiving element 16 is larger. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of ink and identify the ink color.
  • the ink tank to which the present invention is applied is one that is detachably attached to the ink jet recording apparatus, and the optical unit is installed in the ink jet recording apparatus. Therefore, product-to-product variations in the distance between the optical knit and the light reflecting member due to dimensional tolerances and assembly tolerances of parts are inevitable. Therefore, changes in the optical path when this distance changes will be described with reference to FIG.
  • the light incident obliquely to the wall surface of the housing 43 is used, so the optical unit 14 and the light reflecting member are used.
  • the distance from 4 7 is separated by X
  • the light reflected by the reflecting surface 4 7 a does not enter the light receiving element 16.
  • the shape of the reflecting surface 47 a is adjusted so that the emitting direction changes according to the incident position of light using adjustment of the irradiation angle of the child 15 or change of the incident position on the reflecting surface 47 a when the distance X changes. It can be coped with by devising and managing component dimension tolerance and assembly tolerance more precisely.
  • FIG. 10 shows an example of / f of the prism type light reflecting member.
  • a light reflection member 57 shown in FIG. 10 is a structure installed on the inner wall surface of the housing 53 by forming a prism-shaped space between the light reflection member 57 and the inner wall surface of the housing 53 of the ink tank 50. It has faces 57 a, 57 b, 57 c.
  • the space formed between the wall surface of the housing 53 and the reflecting surface 57 a, 57 b, 57 c of the light reflecting member 57 has a trapezoidal cross section, and the ink in the ink chamber in which the light reflecting member 57 is provided This space is in communication with the ink chamber so as to freely flow between the space and the ink chamber.
  • Each of the reflective surfaces 57 a, 57 b, 57 c is reflected from the light 1 that has been vertically incident on the wall surface of the housing 53 1 by the reflective surfaces 57 a, 57 b, 57 c in sequence, to the outside of the housing 53 again.
  • An angle with respect to the inner wall surface of the housing 53 is set so as to emit light in a direction perpendicular to the wall surface of the housing 53.
  • the wall surface of the housing 53 provided with the light reflecting member 47 may be a bottom wall surface or a side wall surface.
  • the relationship of A> B> C described above does not change, and from the intensity of light detected by the light receiving element 16, the ink The presence or absence of the tank 50 and the presence or absence of the ink can be detected, and furthermore, the color of the ink can be determined.
  • the wavelength of the light emitted from the light emitting element 15 is a wavelength which is easily attenuated when it is transmitted through the ink to be discriminated (is easily absorbed). I gave an example. However, in this case, it is necessary to find out light of an appropriate wavelength having a different degree of attenuation for each color ink. Therefore, by making the light emitting element 15 variable in wavelength of the emitted light so that the light of the wavelength of the region where the absorbance in each ink color is peak can be irradiated, the light receiving element 16 The difference in the intensity of the light incident on the light becomes larger for each ink color, and the ink color can be easily determined.
  • the light reflecting member provided in the ink tank is irradiated with light, and the reflected light of the light is detected to detect the presence or absence of the ink tank and the presence or absence of the ink in the ink tank. Can be detected, and furthermore, the color of the ink can also be determined. Since this is possible even when the ink tank structure is common to each color, in particular, the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus in which a plurality of ink tanks having different colors of ink contained therein are mounted. With the above configuration, incorrect installation of the ink tank can also be detected.

Abstract

Un réservoir d'encre, permettant une détection certaine de la présence ou de l'absence d'encre et la détection de la présence ou de l'absence du réservoir d'encre dans la structure de celui-ci, possède une configuration simple et est efficace pour empêcher l'installation erronée de celui-ci causée par multi-coloration d'encre et un enregistreur de jet d'encre. Le réservoir d'encre (20) est formé par le stockage de l'encre dans un boîtier (23) formé d'un organe de transmission de lumière. Un organe de réflexion de lumière (27) est installé dans une chambre de stockage d'encre (25) formant une partie d'une chambre d'encre stockant l'encre. L'organe réfléchissant la lumière (27) comprend des faces réfléchissantes (27a) et (27b) pour réfléchir la lumière incidente dans la chambre de stockage d'encre (25) par la face de paroi basse (22f) du réservoir d'encre (20) et lui permettre de ressortir du boîtier (23). Un espace communiquant avec la chambre de stockage d'encre (25) est formé entre les faces réfléchissantes (27a) et (27b) et la face de paroi avant (22f).
PCT/JP2005/009716 2004-05-20 2005-05-20 Réservoir d'encre et enregistreur de jet d'encre WO2005113245A1 (fr)

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JP2004150430 2004-05-20
JP2004-150430 2004-05-20

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WO2005113245A1 true WO2005113245A1 (fr) 2005-12-01

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EP2946931A4 (fr) * 2013-01-18 2017-02-01 Seiko Epson Corporation Réservoir et dispositif d'éjection de liquide
CN106414083A (zh) * 2014-01-21 2017-02-15 惠普发展公司，有限责任合伙企业 具有切口以及闩锁的可替换的供液器

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JP2002011928A (ja) * 2000-06-29 2002-01-15 Sony Corp 自己診断装置、自己診断方法及び自己診断機能を有するプログラムを記録したコンピュータ読み取り可能なプログラム格納媒体
JP2004066743A (ja) * 2002-08-08 2004-03-04 Canon Inc インクジェット記録装置およびインクジェット記録方法

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JP2002011928A (ja) * 2000-06-29 2002-01-15 Sony Corp 自己診断装置、自己診断方法及び自己診断機能を有するプログラムを記録したコンピュータ読み取り可能なプログラム格納媒体
JP2004066743A (ja) * 2002-08-08 2004-03-04 Canon Inc インクジェット記録装置およびインクジェット記録方法

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2946931A4 (fr) * 2013-01-18 2017-02-01 Seiko Epson Corporation Réservoir et dispositif d'éjection de liquide
CN107081963A (zh) * 2013-01-18 2017-08-22 精工爱普生株式会社 液体喷射装置、罐
CN106414083A (zh) * 2014-01-21 2017-02-15 惠普发展公司，有限责任合伙企业 具有切口以及闩锁的可替换的供液器
EP3096955A4 (fr) * 2014-01-21 2017-09-20 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Alimentation en liquide remplaçable présentant des découpes et un verrou
US10112405B2 (en) 2014-01-21 2018-10-30 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Replaceable liquid supply having cut outs and latch

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